Michael Fisher
Airtable
Austin, TX USA
"If you don’t have an area that you’re really specific about being in, don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s nothing wrong with being a generalist until you decide an area that you want to be an expert in."
Career Roadmap
Michael's work combines: Technology, Engineering, and Problem Solving
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
IT is a very broad field, so I recommend taking time to figure out what you'd like to focus on. Do you want to be hands-on and understand the intricacies of how devices work? Or do you want to understand the way networking works? Are you more interested in coding? These are some questions to think about. If you want to start with a general IT understanding, I'd suggest starting with a CompTIA A+ certification or a Microsoft Help Desk support certification.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Certification
Scrum Foundation Certificate
CertiProf
Certification
NSE 2 Network Security Associate
Fortinet
Certification
Azure Administrator Associate
Microsoft
Certification
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services
Certification
CompTIA Network+ ce
CompTIA
Certification
ITIL 4 Foundation
AXELOS
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I’ve known that I wanted to go into IT since I was in third grade.
2.
I jumped into the workforce after graduating high school.
3.
I did spend some time in a computer and informations systems program but felt that it was too slow for me—I figured I could learn more efficiently on my own.
4.
Rather than continue with a two or four-year program, I’ve earned various technology certifications, including CompTIA Network+, NSE 2 Network Security, and AWS Cloud certifications.
5.
I’ve since built my career in IT working as a technician and engineer for technology companies.
6.
I’m now working as a senior network engineer for a start-up cloud collaboration service.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
Certifications aren't for me. This isn't going to work out.
How I responded:
When I first learned that I could pursue certifications instead of a degree, I was excited. However, I didn't know how to study for a certification. I ended up failing because I knew too much. Instead of solving the questions in the way the test wanted, I already knew better shortcuts. After that, I didn't think certifications were for me. Years later, I found Udemy, which worked a lot better for me. I learned how to study in a way that worked for me and finally found educational success.